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This is the end of Robert De Niro week. As next week is Al Pacino week, a good segue would be The Godfather: Part II. Unfortunately that film is not available on instant Netflix but Righteous Kill is currently available on instant Netflix and it’s probably just as good since it has both of them in it.

“Oscar winners Robert De Niro and Al Pacino drive this taut thriller as New York City detectives tasked with investigating a rash of vigilante killings that are linked to an old case, suggesting they might have put an innocent man behind bars. John Leguizamo, Carla Gugino, Brian Dennehy, Donnie Wahlberg and rapper-turned-actor 50 Cent also star in director Jon Avnet’s crime drama, penned by Russel Gerwitz (Inside Man).”

“You sort of get numb to it.”

Ah if only one could get numb to this. Just because you have two Oscar-winning actors starring in your movie doesn’t automatically make it good. Even a fine supporting cast can’t save this film.

Al Pacino plays a character nicknamed Rooster. This is appropriate as he struts all over the movie. He also crows many of his lines. It really appears as though the director just told him, “go for it!” instead of actually directing. The other actors just seem to walk through their performances.

The script is dreadful. It thinks it is witty and urbane and admittedly there are a few good lines in it. Overall the script doesn’t appear to have been written as a whole. It appears to have been written as a series of “ooh that’s a good line” moments, regardless of whether it makes sense for any particular character to be delivering that particular line.

Although women don’t feature prominently in this film, the movie comes across as terribly misogynistic. This is not unusual for a cop story as it is one of the last bastions of the good ole boy network. Unfortunately here it is not an extension of the job.

The main female character, Karen (Carla Gugino), is Turk’s (Robert De Niro) girlfriend and a crime scene technician. Gugino was 37 and De Niro was 65. This is annoyingly standard for Hollywood. Yes it is a common male fantasy for older men to want a much younger woman and of course it does occur. The problem is that Hollywood portrays the old enough to be your father or even grandfather relationship as the norm.

*SPOILER*

Karen makes fun of Turk because the most violent he gets in bed is pulling her hair. She also gets very turned on by a description of Turk beating someone up. She happily puts up with sexual harassment at work. Clearly she is ‘asking for it’ so you can imagine what happens to her late in the film.

There are only two other female characters in the movie (other than sexy dancers and a nude woman in bed). The first is a completely moronic drug-using attorney who also appear to be attracted to Turk in one scene (she appears to be younger than Karen). The second is an alcoholic who provided the alibi for her boyfriend while he killed and raped a 10-year old.

Obviously I can’t recommend this film. Seriously just AVOID this piece of cinematic garbage and place the blame squarely on director Jon Avnet.

People Watch: It really says something when the most restrained performance is given by John Leguizamo.